Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 15, 1991 TAG: 9103150408
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Not that he's complaining, mind you.
It's a blast, he said in a telephone interview this week from his home in Marietta, Ga. It's also good exposure.
And Tritt, 28, is at the point in his career when he'll take all the exposure he can get.
His debut album, "Country Club," sold well, and his first singles - "Country Club," "Help Me Hold On," "I'm Gonna Be Somebody" and "Put Some Drive in Your Country" - all made the charts.
But now Tritt needs a big follow-up to help him break away from the ever-growing pack of country artists poised to become either the next Randy Travis or the next forgotten nobody.
So he's excited about opening for the Headhunters, the hottest group in country music. In fact, he called it a bill made in high-energy heaven.
Both Tritt and the Kentucky Headhunters incorporate heavy doses of Southern rock into their music. He promised an up-tempo show Sunday night at the Salem Civic Center.
"We try to leave them on the edge of their seats," he said.
Like the Headhunters, Tritt also will be previewing some new material, including a song he recently recorded with the band Little Feat for his next album, scheduled for release May 23.
"That's something I've always wanted to do is play with those guys." It was like being Lowell George, he said, referring to the band's late lead singer. "It was really a cool thing."
Titled "Bible Belt," the song was recorded in Los Angeles. Tritt said there are plans to tape a video for the song to run on MTV.
That's right, MTV.
Tritt said he doubts it will ever be released as a country single. It's probably a little too rowdy.
A more likely candidate for the country charts is another new song, "Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)," which he wrote after his second divorce recently.
Admittedly, Tritt finds much of his inspiration for new material in the trials of everyday life, especially his own.
"I just try to write songs that move myself. I figure if they move me, they'll move others," he said.
Divorces and break-ups make particularly good sources, he added. "I told somebody just the other day that I needed to get married and divorced again so I can come up with a third album."
Even the first song he ever wrote, "Spend a Little Time," was composed in the wake of a broken heart.
He said he was supposed to meet his girlfriend at the beach one summer, but when he got there, she had already dumped him for some lifeguard.
"So, I'm crushed. I'm a devastated 14-year-old," he remembered. It was 4 a.m. He went out and wrote the song sitting on one of the lifeguard stands on the beach. "I just poured my heart out to my guitar."
But don't expect "Spend a Little Time" to be included in Tritt's set Sunday. Expect his hits instead, along with "Bible Belt," "Here's a Quarter" and a few other new numbers.
Tritt said he also plans to slip in a couple of old covers Sunday, including Chuck Berry's "Promised Land" and Merle Haggard's "The Fighting Side of Me."
Like Little Feat, Haggard is another artist Tritt said he has admired and hopes to record or write songs with some day. The same goes for Greg Allman, Hank Williams Jr., John Cougar Mellencamp and Ray Charles, he said.
In addition, Tritt wants to pursue acting and already he said a television western with Alan Autry is in the works.
Music, however, will remain his first priority. "My main concern right now is to just keep doing good music . . . and keep people interested.
"This may sound corny, but as long as I can keep doing that, I'll be a happy camper."
Travis Tritt, by the way, is his real name for those of you who have been wondering or can't believe it.
by CNB